Mod DB: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:15, 16 October 2024

Revision as of 14:16, 16 October 2024

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==History==

Scott Reismanis, a website developer from [[Melbourne]], Australia, first pursued web development as a hobby, creating two websites dedicated to video games. Afterwards, he purchased the ChaosRealm.com ___domain and formed the Realm Network. The network comprised over twenty websites, one of which was Mod DB's predecessor, ModRealm. Launched in 1998, ModRealm was initially dedicated to ''[[Counter-Strike (video game)|Counter-Strike]]'' [[cheat code]]s before becoming a modding website. The website became defunct on 17in December 2001, when its network was shut down after its hosting service, Playnet, filed for bankruptcy.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=https://www.moddb.com/about|title=About Us|publisher=Mod DB|access-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004144452/https://www.moddb.com/about|archive-date=4 October 2021|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web|url=https://www.moddb.com/news/a-10-year-history-of-moddb|title=A 10 year history of ModDB|author=Henley|publisher=Mod DB|date=29 July 2012|access-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004165204/https://www.moddb.com/news/a-10-year-history-of-moddb|archive-date=4 October 2021|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite news|title=DesuraNET's quest to make a better indie community|last=Moss|first=Richard|work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|date=18 December 2012}}</ref>

Reismanis was motivated to start a new website by the difficulty of searching for mods on the then-dominant search engine, [[AltaVista]], much less mods released to the public. He began Mod DB's development on 11in January 2002, following [[IMDb]]'s structure in the process. The website was launched as Mod Database on 8 June 2002of the same year. It differed from his earlier websites in that its articles were managed by the community, not only the website's founder. Mod DB rapidly expanded its viewership and database size. In 2006, the Mod DB team launched Addon DB, whose aim was to list additional content for games not applicable under the category of game modifications. This includes models, skins and maps. Just one year into service, it was merged into Mod DB.<ref name=History/>

Reismanis was an information technology consultant at [[Accenture]] and intended to keep Mod DB his hobby, but he left the firm to found DesuraNET as the website's hosting company, citing the expense of running the website and his recollection of [[IGN]]'s 2006 attempt to acquire it.<ref name=History/> Mod DB was integrated into DesuraNET's [[Desura]], which was a [[digital distribution]] service that focused on [[indie game]]s. The service opened in April 2010 as a competitor to [[Valve Corporation|Valve]]'s [[Steam (service)|Steam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/desura-moddb-takes-on-steam|title=Desura: ModDB Takes On Steam|last=Denby|first=Leeis|work=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]]|date=8 March 2010|access-date=4 October 2021}}</ref>